[guerrilla]

> because it isn't something done to us, imposed from outside

You assumed it isn't still something being done to us, being imposed from the outside. I doubt that's right. It was a useful tool of power before, it probably still is. Why do you think it's produced by our own psycho-biology?

[civil_engineer]

We are wired to want to participate in a social system. To belong. To have a common enemy. I propose organized sports!

[tasha0663]

A massive ritualized practice with its own symbols, laws, large structures, sacrifices, regional variants, written and unwritten codes of ethics, hierarchies of permissions and enforcement that sometimes involve costume and decorated carriages...

I'm talking about commuting, of course!

[guerrilla]

Sacrafices? :D

[tasha0663]

Potential ancestors who didn't experience the dread of possibly being watched from the tall grass were more likely to be eaten. And so we begin to believe in the unseen.

[guerrilla]

Seems like a giant leap from being aware of yoir surroundings being benefi i to having a habit of inventing invisible superheroes who are the ultimate moral judges of the universe...

[tasha0663]

It's also a giant leap from morganucodon to homo sapiens, which is to say it's a vast amount of tiny leaps over eons.

[guerrilla]

Yes; however, the mechanism of one is well documented and understood and comes with a predictive theory, while the other is so far just speculation of somone on the Internet.

[tasha0663]

While I'm flattered that you think I could have come up with it, I must confess it wasn't my idea https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14694-superstitions-e...